February 262019

Kitchener-based Dozr announced today it has closed a $14 million CAD Series A equity funding round.

The round was led by Colorado-based BaseCamp Equity Partners with participation from FairVentures, a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings, which led Dozr’s $2.5 million (CAD) seed round in 2016. This round brings Dozr total funding to date to more than $16.5 million.

“I believe the future of equipment rentals is online and like how Dozr is opening up the industry and making it more efficient.”

BaseCamp was joined in its investment by Juan Carlos Mas, a Florida-based leader in the construction industry, who partnered with BaseCamp to make its investment in Dozr. With the investment Mas now joins Dozr’s board. Mas has previously served as the CEO and chairman of multiple construction equipment rental companies and is a former executive at MasTec, one of the largest purchasers of construction equipment in North America.

“We’ve been working hard to deliver an unmatched user experience that benefits every part of the construction industry,” said Kevin Forestell, CEO and co-founder of Dozr. “As marketplaces evolve beyond peer-to-peer and user expectations grow, this investment and the insight we’ll gain from having JC’s [Mas] participation will enable us to push the boundaries of what a marketplace in the sharing economy can be.”

In its announcement, Dozr did not explicitly specify how it plans to use the investment, but hinted that it is looking to increase its presence in the market. The company, which allows contractors in the construction and agriculture industries to share and rent out heavy equipment, put its 2016, $2.5 million seed funding towards its US expansion. As part of that deal, Fairfax’s subsidiary Federated Insurance Company of Canada also provided Dozr with an insurance coverage plan to protect equipment owners when customers rent machinery.

Dozr is also an alumnus of Communitech’s accelerator, Communitech Rev, and in 2016 was awarded a $100,000 prize after winning the pitch competition at the accelerator’s Demo Day.

The company’s platform is powered by AI and machine learning, and not only gives users access to price and availability data from construction equipment owners, but helps those owners share and rent out heavy equipment that isn’t being used, to help them save time and money.

“I believe the future of equipment rentals is online and like how Dozr is opening up the industry and making it more efficient,” said Mas. “Unlike other sharing economy platforms Dozr is going beyond P2P [peer-to-peer] to connect the entire industry: contractors, rental houses, and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]. [Dozr is] ushering in the next generation of marketplace to give contractors the best possible experience.”

Since announcing its expansion to the US, Dozr has launched in New Jersey and in January 2017, Dozr launched in Florida as well. According to its website, its services are available across North America.

Image courtesy Dozr

StartUp HERE Toronto is a publishing partner of Betakit and this article was originally published on their site.

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